Famous Person Research Project
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- 1 - Summary
- 2 - Background for Teachers
- 3 - Student Prior Knowledge
- 4 - Student Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
- 5 - Instructional Procedures
- 6 - Strategies for Diverse Learners
- 7 - Assessment Plan
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In this research project, 3rd grade students will be choosing a famous person they would like to research, write an essay about, and create a presentation on.
This will be a 5- 6 week project.
Background for Teachers
To teach this lesson, the teacher will need to create a research model. As 3rd graders are still young and probably not attune to how research is done, the teacher will need to plan how to model researching, so it's done appropriately.
The teacher will need to choose a note taking technique to teach and model.
The teacher will need to have an outline model so the students can take their research notes and put it in an outline format.
The teacher will need to be able to teach the technology that will be part of the final presentation project.
Student Prior Knowledge
Prior to the lesson, students will need to have an awareness of the positive impact their famous person has had so they can choose an appropriate person.
The students will need to be able to have reading stamina to spend a large amount of time reading about their famous person.
The students will need a basic understanding of their iPads, as this will be the device the project will be created on.
The students will need to be familiar with the 5-paragraph essay format.
Student Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
Learning Intentions
Students will be able to read, research, and take notes on 3 areas of a famous person
- Why the person is famous
- Interesting Facts
The students will understand the writing process for a research essay
- Read and research
- Put the notes into an outline
- From the outline, write a rough draft
- Edit and revise
- Publish--final copy
Success Criteria
The students will write about their famous person in a 5-paragraph essay
The students will use their knowledge and create a project using technology (iMovie, Podcast using Garage Band, etc.)
Instructional Procedures
1. Teachers will tap into prior knowedge of the students by asking questions such as: What is fame? Who is a famous person? What makes a person famous? Is all fame good? Students will answer these questions on their iPads using the WhiteBoard app.
2. The teacher will present the objectives of this project and the timeline
- choose a famous person
- read and research
- create an outline
- rough draft
- edit/revise
- create a project using technology
3. Time LIne
- 2 weeks to read and research
- 1 week to take notes
- 1-2 weeks to write the rough draft, edit/revise, and type the final essay
- 1 week to create the digital project
4. For each section of work, the teacher will create mini lessons and/or model using gradual release
5. Digital Project--students will be asked to showcase their reserch in a digital format. An iMovie, podcast, google slide presenation, Keynote are examples. Students may choose the app and format they would like to display their findings.
List of APPS
Show Me (Whiteboard app)
Attached Resources
Sample Essay
File size 154.3 KB
KeynoteSample
File size 890.0 KB
Strategies for Diverse Learners
Modifications can be made such as:
- choose resources that can be read to struggling readers
- modify the length of the project (eg. 1-3 paragraphs instead of 5)
- Allow extra time
Extensions can be made such as:
- faster paced timeline
- allow for the opportunity to create multiple digital projects
Assessment Plan
- rubric for essay
- rubric for digital project
- Write on Demand assessment after the project is completely finished
TechRubric
File size 42.4 KB
UEN Rubric
File size 368.5 KB
Biography Project: Research and Class Presentation
- Resources & Preparation
- Instructional Plan
- Related Resources
Set the stage for high-interest reading with a purpose through a biography project. Students work together to generate questions they would like to answer about several well-known people, then each student chooses one of these and finds information by reading a biography from the library and doing Internet research. Students create a graphic organizer (a web) to organize the facts they have found and share what they have learned about their subjects through oral presentations. Students evaluate themselves and their classmates by using a rubric during the research and graphic organizer-creation process and by giving written feedback on one another's presentations.
Featured Resources
Bio-Cube : This planning tool can help students organize their research; use it as an extension to the lesson and have them outline the lives they' researched before writing their own biographies.
From Theory to Practice
- By using graphic organizers, students write or draw meanings and relationships of underlying ideas. This has been shown to improve students' ability to recall content.
- By summarizing information, students improve in including ideas related to the main idea, generalizing, and removing redundancy.
- By working in cooperative groups, students may increase their learning of reading strategies through peer discussion. They may also lead to better comprehension.
Common Core Standards
This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.
State Standards
This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.
NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts
- 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
- 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
- 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Materials and Technology
- School or classroom library with a broad selection of biographies
- Computers with Internet access and printing capability
- Index cards
- Oral Presentation Peer Feedback Form
- Oral Presentation Rubric
Student Objectives
Students will
- Learn to ask relevant questions before beginning a research project
- Learn to take notes and categorize information as they create graphic organizers
- Improve comprehension as they read and skim text for main ideas and details
- Develop research skills (book and Internet) with the purpose of teaching the class what they have learned
- Think critically as they use rubrics and written feedback to evaluate their classmates and themselves
Session 1: Before Reading
Sessions 2 to 5, session 6: after reading, sessions 7 to 9: class presentations.
Have students use their webs and the online Bio-Cube tool to plan and write biographies of the person they have researched. When they are finished, ask students to share the books with a younger class.
Student Assessment / Reflections
Possible student assessments include:
- Use the Web Rubric to grade the students' webs.
- Use the Oral Presentation Rubric to grade students' presentations based on the quality and completeness of information given.
- Observe and evaluate students' participation in group work and ability to critique other students' presentations based on their comments on the Oral Presentation Peer Feedback Form .
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Assignment Biography: Student Criteria and Rubric for Writing
Researching an Individual Aligned to Common Core Writing Standards
- Tips & Strategies
- An Introduction to Teaching
- Policies & Discipline
- Community Involvement
- School Administration
- Technology in the Classroom
- Teaching Adult Learners
- Issues In Education
- Teaching Resources
- Becoming A Teacher
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- Elementary Education
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- Special Education
- Homeschooling
- M.A., English, Western Connecticut State University
- B.S., Education, Southern Connecticut State University
The genre of biography can also be categorized in the sub-genre of narrative nonfiction/historical nonfiction. When a teacher assigns a biography as a writing assignment, the purpose is to have a student utilize multiple research tools to gather and to synthesize information that may be used as evidence in a written report about an individual. The evidence gained from research can include a person’s words, actions, journals, reactions, related books, interviews with friends, relatives, associates, and enemies. The historical context is equally important. Since there are people who have influenced every academic discipline, assigning a biography can be a cross-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary writing assignment.
Middle and high school teachers should allow students to have a choice in selecting the subject for a biography. Providing student choice, particularly for students in grades 7-12, increases their engagement and their motivation especially if students select individuals they care about. Students would find it difficult to write about a person they do not like. Such an attitude compromises the process of researching and writing the biography.
According to by Judith L. Irvin, Julie Meltzer and Melinda S. Dukes in their book Taking Action on Adolescent Literacy:
"As humans, we are motivated to engage when we are interested or have real purpose for doing so. So motivation to engage [students] is the first step on the road to improving literacy habits and skills" (Chapter 1).
Students should find at least three different sources (if possible) to make sure the biography is accurate. A good biography is well-balanced and objective. That means if there is disagreement between sources, the student can use the evidence to state that there is a conflict. Students should know that a good biography is more than a timeline of events in a person's life.
The context of a person's life is important. Students should include information about the historical time period in which a subject lived and did her/his work.
In addition, the student should have a purpose for researching another person's life. For example, the purpose for a student to research and write a biography can be in a response to the prompt:
"How does this writing this biography help me to understand the influence of this person on history, and quite possibly, this person's impact on me?"
The following standards-based criteria and scoring rubrics can be used to grade a student-selected biography. Both criteria and rubrics should be given to students before they begin their work.
Criteria for a Student Biography aligned to Common Core State Standards
A General Outline for Biography Details
- Birthdate /Birthplace
- Death (if applicable).
- Family Members.
- Miscellaneous (religion, titles, etc).
Education/Influences
- Schooling.Training.
- Work Experiences.
- Contemporaries/Relationships.
Accomplishments/ Significance
- Evidence of major accomplishments.
- Evidence of minor accomplishments (if relevant).
- The analysis that supports why the individual was worthy of note in their field of expertise during his or her life.
- Analysis why this individual is worthy of note in their field of expertise today.
Quotes/Publications
- Statements made.
- Works published.
Biography Organization using the CCSS Anchor Writing Standards
- Transitions are effective in assisting the reader to understand shifts.
- Ideas within each paragraph are fully developed.
- Each point is supported by evidence.
- All evidence is relevant.
- Important terms are explained to the reader.
- Purpose of each paragraph (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion) is clear.
- Clear relationship between topic sentence(s) and paragraph(s) that came before is evident.
Grading Rubric: Holistic Standards with Letter Grade Conversions
(based on extended response Smarter Balanced Assessment writing rubric)
Score: 4 or Letter Grade: A
Student response is a thorough elaboration of the support/evidence on the topic (individual) including the effective use of source material. The response clearly and effectively develops ideas, using precise language:
- Comprehensive evidence (facts and details) from source materials are integrated.
- Relevant, and specific clear citations or attribution to source materials.
- Effective use of a variety of elaborative techniques.
- Vocabulary is clearly appropriate for the audience and purpose.
- Effective, appropriate style enhances content.
Score: 3 Letter Grade: B
Student response is an adequate elaboration of the support/evidence in the biography that includes the use of source materials. The student response adequately develops ideas, employing a mix of precise and more general language:
- Adequate evidence (facts and details) from the source materials is integrated and relevant, yet the evidence and explanation may be general.
- Adequate use of citations or attribution to the source material.
- Adequate use of some elaborative techniques.
- Vocabulary is generally appropriate for the audience and purpose.
- The style is generally appropriate for the audience and purpose.
Score: 2 Letter Grade: C
Student response is uneven with a cursory elaboration of the support/evidence in the biography that includes the uneven or limited use of source material. The student response develops ideas unevenly, using simplistic language:
- Some evidence (facts and details) from the source materials may be weakly integrated, imprecise, repetitive, vague, and/or copied.
- Weak use of citations or attribution to source materials.
- Weak or uneven use of elaborative techniques.
- Development may consist primarily of source summaries.
- Vocabulary use is uneven or somewhat ineffective for the audience and purpose.
- Inconsistent or weak attempt to create the appropriate style.
Score: 1 Letter Grade: D
Student response provides a minimal elaboration of the support/evidence in the biography that includes little or no use of source material. The student response is vague, lacks clarity, or is confusing:
- Evidence (facts and details) from the source material is minimal, irrelevant, absent, incorrectly used.
- Insufficient use of citations or attribution to the source material.
- Minimal, if any, use of elaborative techniques.
- Vocabulary is limited or ineffective for the audience and purpose.
- Little or no evidence of appropriate style.
- Insufficient or plagiarized (copied without credit) text.
- Off-topic.
- Off-purpose.
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iRubric: Famous Person Research Paper rubric
- famous person
- Social Sciences
IMAGES
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Influential Leader Research Paper. Students choose a famous person from their era of study and conduct research and complete a biography research paper of the person's life. Rubric Code: WX5637B. By krmcnish. Ready to use.
Famous Person Rubric Writing Rubric 2.L.2- Conventions of Standard English: ... 5 4 3 2 1 2.W.7- Research to Build and Present Knowledge Includes factual information, opinions are not included 5 4 3 2 1 2.L.2 - Spelling: Did I spell everything correctly? 5 4 3 2 1 Handwriting: legibility 5 4 3 2 1 ...
Here is the rubric for scoring the biography research report of a famous person. Rubric for Biography Research Report: Famous Person Rated 4.78 out of 5, based on 9 reviews
Science sequence. Students will begin to realize the steps involved in writing a research paper that displays correct conventions. Through this creative approach to researching, students are given a chance to construct a famous 3-D person and an opportunity to become a famous person for one incredible day.
create a project using technology. 3. Time LIne. 2 weeks to read and research. 1 week to take notes. 1-2 weeks to write the rough draft, edit/revise, and type the final essay. 1 week to create the digital project. 4. For each section of work, the teacher will create mini lessons and/or model using gradual release.
In this research project, 3rd grade students will be choosing a famous person they would like to research, write an essay about, and create a presentation on. ... rubric for essay; rubric for digital project; Write on Demand assessment after the project is completely finished; Attached Resources. TechRubric .
4.9. (54) $3.50. PDF. Research form to use to record information while researching a famous or influential person . Also included is a template for a tri-fold brochure. Both forms collate to make it easy to transfer information for primary students or SPED students. Brochure template is cut out and glued onto a large piece of construction paper ...
Research Project: Famous People There have been thousands of amazing people who have done fantastic things in their lives. From superstars to inventors to explorers - all of whom had a huge impact on the world. In this task, you will research a famous person and create a 'Fact-book Page for them. This page will include the following sections:
iRubric RXCX435: Students choose a famous person from their era of study and conduct research and complete a biography research paper of the person's life.. Free rubric builder and assessment tools.
Famous athletes are not the only people who can be featured on cereal boxes. After researching your famous American design a cereal box. ... Write a report being sure to include the information in the rubric on the back of this paper. Be sure the words you write are your words, ... Standard ELACCW7: Participate in shared research and writing ...
Research Paper Scoring Rubric Ideas Points 1-10 Has a well-developed thesis that conveys a perspective on the subject Poses relevant and tightly drawn questions about the topic; excludes extraneous details and inappropriate information Records important ideas, concepts, and direct quotations from a variety of reliable
7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
Style/Voice ____. Grammar/Usage/ Mechanics ____. *exceptional introduction that grabs interest of reader and states topic. **thesis is exceptionally clear, arguable, well-developed, and a definitive statement. *paper is exceptionally researched, extremely detailed, and historically accurate. **information clearly relates to the thesis.
3. $1.50. Word Document File. This project has students choosing to research a past or present famous Hispanic person through any creative means they choose. The project provides a varied list of artists, athletes, actors, politicians, and more for students to choose from. A grading rubric is included.
When a teacher assigns a biography as a writing assignment, the purpose is to have a student utilize multiple research tools to gather and to synthesize information that may be used as evidence in a written report about an individual. The evidence gained from research can include a person's words, actions, journals, reactions, related books ...
iRubric MX96595: Students choose a famous person and conduct research and complete a biography research paper of the person's life.. Free rubric builder and assessment tools.
Famous Person Research Paper Rubric - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. famous person research paper rubric
Accomplishments and Achievements. A. What was one thing he/she did that was important? B. How did he/she prepare and create his/her success? (education, practice, never gave up) Note Card V. Conclusion. A. What is one way he/she affected or changed the world? B.
Building Biographies: A Research Unit. For Teachers 4th - 6th. Students explore the fundamental principles involved in completing a research project. Several handheld technical pieces of equipment are utilized to complete this lesson. Find famous person report rubric lesson plans and teaching resources. Quickly find that inspire student learning.
Example 1 - Research Paper Rubric. Characteristics to note in the rubric: Language is descriptive, not evaluative. Labels for degrees of success are descriptive ("Expert" "Proficient", etc.); by avoiding the use of letters representing grades or numbers representing points, there is no implied contract that qualities of the paper will ...